Piers Morgan Grilled at U.K. Inquiry

LONDON—CNN talk-show host Piers Morgan deflected pointed questions about his past as a British tabloid editor during frequently combative testimony before a U.K. inquiry probing press ethics on Tuesday.

Appearing via video link from the U.S., Mr. Morgan said he didn't believe illegal voice-mail interception, or phone hacking, took place at the British tabloid he oversaw most recently, Trinity MirrorTNMRY-12.54% PLC's Daily Mirror. "To the best of my recollection, I do not believe so," he said.

The inquiry's questions focused primarily on comments Mr. Morgan has made about tricks of the British tabloid trade in various articles and books. Near the end of a session in which the inquiry's court-appointed questioner, British lawyer Robert Jay, trotted out various episodes from Mr. Morgan's career in the British press, the CNN interviewer said he felt like a rock star witnessing an album release of all his "worst-ever hits."

For more than a decade, Mr. Morgan was a prominent player in a British tabloid world that has come under intense scrutiny amid a scandal over voice-mail interception at News Corp.'s now-closed News of the World. Before moving to the U.S., Mr. Morgan edited the Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004 and prior to that spent a year editing the News of the World.

News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.

The CNN anchor said his past assertions that phone hacking was rife in the British press were based on rumor rather than any personal knowledge of the illegal practice. He also said he couldn't remember who first told him about the practice of phone hacking.

At one point in the hearing, Mr. Morgan was asked whether he had ever listened to recordings of illegally obtained voice mails.

"I do not believe so," the CNN anchor replied.

"You either did or you didn't. I don't think it's a question of belief," the inquiry's questioner, Mr. Jay, shot back. Mr. Morgan repeated his earlier response.

The back-and-forth led to the most tense moment in the hearing, during which Mr. Morgan declined to talk about the details of a 2006 article he wrote in the Daily Mail, in which he recalled at one point "being played" a voice mail former Beatles star Paul McCartney had left for his ex-wife Heather Mills.

"I can't go into the details of this without compromising a source, and I'm not going to do that," Mr. Morgan said.

The judge running the public inquiry—which was ordered by the U.K. government in July at the height of the News of the World scandal—said he may ask Ms. Mills to tell the inquiry whether Mr. Morgan had authorization to access her messages.

During the hearing, Mr. Morgan defended some of his more envelope-pushing tabloid adventures. Asked about a decision to buy Elton John's bank statements from a man who obtained them by rifling through the British singer's trash, Mr. Morgan admitted to having some qualms but went on to defend the move.

"If you throw something away, you are discarding it, so you clearly have no use for it," Mr. Morgan said. "If you throw rubbish into the street—I just throw it out there—I wonder how unethical it is if that then appears in a newspaper."

He also defended the decision to dispatch an undercover reporter into Buckingham Palace.

"On the face of it, it appeared to be a massive security breach," Mr. Morgan said.

"One you instigated?" Mr. Jay, the questioner, asked.

"Rather us than a terrorist," Mr. Morgan replied. He said it was hard to imagine "anything more in the public interest" than protecting the Royal Family from terrorism or assassination attempts.

Separately, News International, the U.K. newspaper unit of News Corp., on Tuesday said it reached settlements with seven Britons who brought phone-hacking claims against the News of the World. Those included an ex-lover of Princess Diana and a man who became known as a hero for helping victims during the 2005 bombings on the London subway.

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